Tomorrow is race day. It came so quickly! Agh!! One of my 2015 goals is to run more races to help me get rid of pre-race jitters and be more comfortable under the pressure. I do not feel very prepared for this race - not because I've stopped training or didn't recover from my previous race, I just didn't get to go through the entire training process again.
Normally, my races are pretty well spaced out. Averaging 4 races a year allows me 12 weeks of a full training schedule to follow (Have I mentioned I'm slightly OCD?). Mentally, I feel that because I haven't gone through the entire training regimen, I'm not ready. It will be interesting to see if I let my mind get me a PR, or leave me at the back of the pack.
This week I really focused on switching up my workouts and beginning to incorporate workouts that will be crucial to my marathon training plan:
Saturday Long Run: I wanted to get in at least 10 miles as the only long run I'd have before race day. I was doing fine until mile 8, and then my belly was not happy with me. I was stopping every 10 feet because of how much pain I was in. This is my biggest fear with the marathon - how my stomach is going to react. I could eat the same thing before every race, and my belly would act completely crazy in one race, and fine in the next. What's up with that?? I eat tons of veggies and fruit and flax and things that really keep your digestive track moving - this is a problem! How do I figure how to not let that banana and PB ruin me at mile 9?
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday Gym & Cross Training: After the way last week's leg workout hurt me, I wanted to put some focus back on my upper body and core. I did some lunges in Body Works on Sunday, but nothing crazy. I worked shoulders, abs, back and arms on the other days. I'm trying to get comfortable with increasing my weight. The gym has 5 lbs, 7.5 lbs and 10 lbs. I went up to 10 lbs on my biceps, but lowered my reps. I also made it to Spin on Tuesday night!
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Run (AND HILLS!!): I had a great run on Monday with an average pace of 7:39. I'd love to work up to getting a 10K in at 7:30 pace. I finally incorporated some hill training and did 7 quarter mile repeats with a 1.5 mile warm up and 1.5 mile cool down. I raced up the hill for the first 3, with the last 4 focused on maintaining an under 9 minute mile pace. It was very uncomfortable, but I can tell I need work because of how winded I was. My Thursday evening run was slower with race day right around the corner.
I don't feel as nervous as I normally would before a race even though I didn't go through my preparation process. I care a little bit less about PRing, and more about just completing a long run. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it. Look for a race recap in the next few days!
J
